LAUSR

Abstract Affective pictures have been shown to influence taste perceptions under various experimental paradigms. How are affective visual inputs associated with different tastes? More specifically, are there associations between different types of affective pictures and taste words? Here, we undertook a systematic study aimed at delineating the relationship between affective pictures and taste words. Pictures from the Chinese Affective Picture System (CAPS) and other online websites were selected, evaluated and reorganized according to the participants' hedonic and arousal ratings. The pictures were then divided into positive, neutral and negative groups according to their hedonic ratings. Each affective group was subdivided into mild, medium and strong sensations according to the arousal ratings. During the experiments, the participants were shown the pictures and were instructed to choose one of the four taste words (sour/sweet/bitter/salty) as an immediate response. The results showed that positive affective pictures were significantly associated with the word sweet. When the arousal of the positive pictures increased, the choice ratio of “sweet” increased. Negative pictures, with low to medium arousal, were significantly associated with “sour”. Negative and neutral pictures, with strong arousal, were significantly associated with “bitter”. Neutral pictures, with mild to medium arousal, were not significantly associated with any taste word.